Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Posthumous Life For Me

I handily approve of Steven Spielberg adapting Michael Crichton's 'Pirate Latitudes' into a men-on-a-mission film with pirates in it. Those are two genres just SCREAMING to be fused together. Granted, the pirates in the movie probably won't have the coolness factor of being dead like they were in the 'Pirates Of The Caribbean' movies, and I'll wager that they won't be nearly as swishy/sexy/cool as Johnny Depp's Captain Jack, but we'll overlook that for now.

I love men on a mission movies. It's a genre that has been around for decades, and when it's done well, the outcome can usually be pretty kick-ass. 'The Dirty Dozen', 'Bridge On The River Kwai', 'Ocean's 11', 'Seven Samurai', right up to Tarantino's latest 'Inglourious Basterds'. Is it because I'm a guy that I enjoy these movies so much? Well, maybe. The majority of those movies are 'dick flicks', so to speak, and I'll readily admit that it's a lot of fun watching manly men doing manly things with some big explosion-y goodness waiting for me at the end. Honestly though, I think the real reason I like watching these movies is because I like watching a plan coming together. Blame the effect that Hannibal Smith had on my youth for this if you must, but nothing is more exciting for me to watch on film than the first bits and pieces of a carefully concocted plan being snapped into place. Again, when it's done well, that aspect of storytelling makes you feel like you're in on it somehow, like you're the one planting the dynamite under the bridge and waiting for that train to roll on in. Like you're the one ripping off Vegas and magically getting away with it. Guys like that shit, and for good reason. It's cool, dammit. Just plain cool.

So kudos to The Beard for taking on this project. He's already got the man on a mission classic 'Saving Private Ryan' under his belt, so it will be interesting to see where he takes this one. I still haven't made much sense of his decision to do 'Harvey' first, but as long as he keeps that film in the same finger-snappy '60s vibe as 'Catch Me If You Can', I suppose I'll just have to deal with it. Alright, Steven, check this out - what about a small ARMY of invisible rabbits that lead a silent attack on a carrot farm. It could work.